Blue Line Arts

405 Vernon St., Roseville | bluelinearts.org

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1966

EMPHASIS: Contemporary fine art

KEY ARTISTS: Recent solo exhibitions of Peter Combe, Mark Abildgaard, M. Mark Bauer, Joe Strickland, Teagan McLarnan, Brandon Gastinell

Blue Line Arts is a testament to the growth that can happen when a community invests in its artists. Since its first outreach exhibit in 1966 under the name Roseville Community Projects Incorporated, Blue Line has grown into a regional nonprofit arts hub housed in a beautiful 5,000-square-foot facility.

“Our new five-year plan is to be a regional cultural hub committed to fostering impactful experiences through the visual arts,” says Brooke Abrames, co-executive director with MaryTess Mayall. “We do that through exhibitions, educational and community programs centered in the arts, work in the public art space and arts consulting for private projects.”

Blue Line serves thousands of kids each year through its classroom and on-site arts programming. It also offers art therapy for veterans, art camps for vulnerable youth and public art initiatives like the Roseville Mural Project.

Exhibitions rotate every six weeks in Blue Line’s five display spaces. Abrames and her team “try to curate art that’s supportive of regional and emerging artists and is inclusive and welcoming to all,” she says. “We’re making sure we’re representing communities that have been historically underrepresented in the fine-arts world.”

To that end, Blue Line holds regular open calls for artists both local and farflung and partners with Placer Artists Studios Tour, the Susan Cooley Gilliom Artist in Residence & Teaching (ART) Program and Kingsley Art Club to find new talent.

This month, check out “Duality: An African Diasporic Narrative” featuring Ghanaian artists Teddy Osei and Glover Marfo, on view through April 1.

The Crocker Art Museum’s Art Auction Season gives bidders the chance to score some original art for their collections while supporting one of the region’s key cultural institutions. Big Names, Small Art is an online offering of small artworks in a variety of mediums. A separate online silent auction offers works of all sizes. Both start May 10. A live auction event takes place at the museum on June 3. For more information, including details on the Auction Season preview party and exhibition, go to crockerart.org/events.